A Tented Ceremony That Brought the Outdoors IN

Stephanie Weers
September 16, 2016
Categories: Real Weddings, Romantic, The Blog
Tags: Glam Reception, Real Wedding, Saratoga, Tented

In the bride’s words, “My mom has instilled in me a love for nature and gardening, so naturally, I embraced a romantic garden vibe.” That point of inspiration turned into a tented wedding ceremony that brought the outdoors in with branches, greenery, and lush florals throughout. Believe us, your Friday is about to get so much prettier thanks to images from the lens of Michelle Lange.

From the Bride… After the excitement of the engagement settled, I turned to Pinterest and other online blogs to gain inspiration. I soon found that I was getting both overwhelmed and lost in a world of wedding expectations that were excessive and simply unrealistic. Once I realized that I wanted to base the theme around inspirations from my loved ones, my vision came to life. My mom has instilled in me a love for nature and gardening, so naturally, I embraced a romantic garden vibe.

The florals were a beautiful mix of ivory and blush shades with hints of loose flowing greenery throughout. Anthology Studio created gorgeous arrangements that climbed up intricate pieces of driftwood. The stationary mimicked these florals, many of which my mom and I designed together. My dad and I created the slate table numbers one afternoon using slate from their yard. We continued this garden theme with the unique place card display my mom created using vintage drawers from my grandmother’s sewing machine that she filled with an ivory flower bed for the cards.

Both my mom and Josh’s mom are cancer survivors, so we decided to make a generous donation to the American Cancer Society’s Coaches vs. Cancer chapter in lieu of traditional favors. During our ceremony, we incorporated a special Polish tradition in honor of my grandfather and his heritage. I’ll always remember the smile on his face as he passed us the heirloom cup of wine and dish of Polish bread.

I wore an ivory high-neck lace dress, one that my mom and grandmother instantly agreed fit the romantic feel. I allowed each of my bridesmaids pick a blush dress of their choice from BHLDN, and they looked absolutely stunning. Josh and his groomsmen all love and work in athletics, so Josh bought them matching Nikes to pair with their gray suits. We each wanted our closest friends to be psyched about what they were wearing, and the consensus was that we delivered!

My favorite moment was a brief one that only Josh and I shared, but it was one that I’ll treasure forever. We asked the band to play “I Will Wait” by Mumford and Sons for our first dance. Though untraditional, the song has been a sort of anthem to the long distance portion of our relationship. Josh told me in the middle of our dance that he listened to the song during his morning commute, thankful everyday that I was willing to “wait” for him. The fact that you caught this touching moment on camera was wonderful!

Now that the thank you notes are sent and the gifts are put away, I can look back and realize I’m proud that each design element paid some sort of special tribute to a loved one of ours. I truly didn’t see everything come together until I saw it all documented in the collection of gorgeous photographs you captured. I recently scanned through my old wedding Pinterest boards, and I’m thankful we went in a unique direction to create a romantic vision of our own that honored the ones who mean the most.